


Cleaning Up Nice

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, Female Rick Grimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-03 05:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: "I'm off to Glenn's. See you tomorrow.""No, wait-" Daryl tore out of the bathroom, looking more than a little panicked. Carl raised an eyebrow. "I- What the hell do I do with my hair?"He sighed heavily, sharing a look with Judith. "Okay. Go back in the bathroom. We'll help you."





	Cleaning Up Nice

"I'm off to Glenn's. See you tomorrow."

"No, wait-" Daryl tore out of the bathroom, looking more than a little panicked. Carl raised an eyebrow. "I- What the hell do I do with my hair?"

He sighed heavily, sharing a look with Judith. "Okay. Go back in the bathroom. We'll help you."

The older man puffed out a relieved breath, straightening his suit jacket and walking back in the bathroom. Carl followed him, setting their backpack on the floor by the door. He set Judith on the counter, the three year old looking up at her father with two fingers in her mouth, her dress a little skewed from sitting on Carl's hip. Carl pushed him around a little bit so he could stand in front of him, checking him over with a critical eye. He knew the boy liked him, but since the divorce, Carl'd cemented his loyalties to his mother and would do his absolute best to assure her happiness. He was no exception, even now. 

"Well, I don't think you're hopeless." Carl muttered, ever optimistic. 

He winced. "I know the suit's a little too small. I can feel it in the shoulders."

"Yeah, but she likes your muscles, so that's okay." Carl frowned a little, looking at his hair. "But what about  _that_?"

"That's what I need help with." He looked at himself in the mirror again, wincing. He was alright in the suit, tight as it was, and his facial hair was neatly trimmed. But his hair, shoulder length and shaggy like a wet dog's, was the issue. 

Carl cocked his head, looking at him from a couple of different angles before nodding resolutely to himself. "Okay. I think I can salvage this without having to cut your hair. Where's her hairspray? No, no, the moose, that would be better . . ."

* * *

He bid the kids goodbye, kissing them both on the forehead before showing them out, Glenn standing next to his parked orange Camero. The Korean man grinned as they exited. 

"Thanks for takin' the kids for the night." He said, watching Carl strap Judith into her booster seat. 

"No problem, man. You and her haven't really had a moment alone since Judith was born. Besides, Maggie and Beth really like having little ones to spoil." Glenn's smile was a little more tired. "Probably going to need Carl's help soon. Maggie's hinting about babies."

He clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, man."

"Pfft, thanks. I'll need it. But hey, at least you clean up nice."

He playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Piss off, man."

Glenn laughed, rounding the vehicle and sliding into the driver's seat, Carl up front beside him. "Tell Rick I said hi. The kids'll be back in the afternoon, so feel free to take the time to  _sleep in_."

He rolled his eyes, but grinned back nonetheless.

"Excuse me, this is my  _mother_ you're discussing." Carl glared. "Have some tact, Glenn."

Glenn snorted good-naturedly and with a little wave from all three of them, drove off. He watched them turn the corner before returning inside, not trusting himself to maintain this appearance out in the open for very long. 

He tried just standing in the foyer, but soon got too restless and paced about the house. When that just made him more anxious, he tried finding something to do, but she usually kept the house pretty clean and Carl picked up the rest of the slack. They were a real tag-team duo, those two. After all, the divorce had been almost seven years ago and she wouldn't let him move in until she was six months pregnant with Judith. So, he wound up back int he Foyer, staring at his own eyes in the reflections on his shoes and trying his hardest not to think, lest be blow up his own head. 

"Hey there, handsome." He looked up, mouth falling open and brain melting out his ears. 

She was walking down the hallway next to the stairs, crystalline blue eyes haunting in the shadow. She was in high, strappy heels with little fake jewels around the toes. Her legs were bare -  _bare_ , his mind wheezed - right up to the skirt of her dress. The dress itself was simple, but its effect was devastating. It was a black little number, sleeveless with a wide shoulder, but a deep, straight vee for her cleavage. The body of the dress was made from some slinky, clingy material city folks were fond of. 

 _Fuck._ He had to swallow, trying to kickstart his mind again and desperately failing.  _I'm going to have to fight men off her._

She had on the one diamond tennis bracelet he'd gotten her for their year anniversary. He hadn't been making much money, so the thing was skinny and the diamonds were small, but the way she'd clutched it to her chest, tears coming to her beautiful eyes had broken his heart. What the hell had Shane done to such an amazing woman to make her feel like she wasn't even worth remembering an anniversary for?

Her necklace was the one Carl got for her after his second paycheck working for the grocery store as a stockboy; a thin, silver chain with a solitary Swarovski crystal in the middle, hanging from a little silver hoop. Her makeup was simple like the dress and just as striking. Winged eyeliner with silver and black eyeshadow, bronzer instead of blush. Her lush dark curls were pinned up, out of her face, bouncing around behind her head as she paced forward. 

"My, my, you clean up nice." She smiled, clearly complimented by his utterly dumbfounded silence. 

"Not well enough." He managed, voice strangled in his throat. 

She flushed then, ducking her head a little bit, smirking cheekily to herself. "I think you're plenty pretty."

"Jesus, woman." His hands spasmed at his side, as unsure as the rest of him. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I mean, I don't mind wearing my uniform for you, but I'm pretty sure they frown on that in black-tie places like this one."

"God knows why."

She shook her head. "So, are you going to be able to drive like this, or should I?"

"I'll drive." He took a deep breath, trying to reassure himself with his own words. "Yeah, I'll drive."

She smiled again, faintly pink lip gloss adding just that little bit of sparkle that mode him want to kiss it off, get it all over her neck and collarbone. 

She slid into the passenger seat of their car and once the doors were closed, he froze up again, hands starting to tremble. 

"Damnit."

She looked over at him, buckling up her seatbelt. "What?"

"Even your _smell_ makes me crazy."

She blinked in surprise. "I'm . . . not really sure what to do with all this praise."

"Don't suggest this too often." He grabbed her hand and put it over his heart, so she could feel the erratic beating for herself. "I think I'd die."

She gave a delighted, surprised little laugh. "Well, I'll just wear your leather jackets around instead."

His heart jumped under her palm. "Rick,  _please._ "

"Okay, okay." She chuckled, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "No more teasing."

* * *

Fuck, he was going to die. 

He was a stuttery mess the whole night, almost dropping food on himself not once, but twice. He didn't miss the way the waiters and waitresses looked at him, either, like he didn't belong here with her. It was fucking true, but that wasn't the point. 

She was a cop, a rough and tumble girl and a streak of darkness hidden deep inside her. She'd been shot, for fuck's sake. He'd met her shortly after that, going in to see his brother, ODed, when she'd stumbled out of her room and into his arms, eyes glassy.

_"I'm so lost." She said, breathless and wobbly. "I need you to help me, please."_

He didn't know where she go the impression that he was the helping kind - he was a mess back then, even worse than now - and the only thing that compelled him was the true belief reflected in her eyes that she was alone. Only later, a few months after Merle woke up from his drug coma, that he learned she was the officer - Deputy of King County, no less - that had found him frothing at the mouth on the street and saved his life. 

_"Got the hots for Officer Friendly?" Merle ribbed. "Got a good ass on her, bouncin' tits, too. Bet that hair would be good for pullin'."_

_"Can't you just not be gross for one minute, man?" He replied, grimacing._

_Merle's smirk fell away and he got serious. "Don't be go'n' gettin' your head all wrapped up in 'er. That there's a married woman and she ain't no cheater. A rare sort, but she'll destroy you, li'l brother."_

He knew this wasn't what Merle had meant, but she was certainly capable. The candlelight reflecting off her skin, her eyes shining like her crystal necklace, the way her ankle wrapped around his and just teasing at his slacks' hem. 

Conversation had been free and easy, and even their silences had been gracious with her smiles, the knowing way she looked at him telling him that she was well aware that he was suffocating on how  _not good enough_ he was to be with this woman. She deserved the world at her feet, but he was really grateful that she'd settled for him.

"I don't think I can tell you enough how beautiful you are."

She smiled down at her wine, waiting on their desert. "It's not getting old like I thought it would."

"I don't think you understand what I mean." He sat forward and took her hand. "Fuck, Rick, if I didn't know you don't want to get married again, I would  _propose_ to you."

Now, that got her attention. 

"Yeah." He squeezed her callused fingers. "I love you so much, Rick. More than anything in the world, 'cept Li'l Asskicker and Carl."

A chuckle broke free.

"But I would. I would marry you in a heartbeat. I would do anything for you."

She swallowed thickly, surprised, but not uncomfortable. She squeezed his hand back. "I . . . I love you too, Daryl. More than . . . More than Shane, even at the beginning of our relationship." She smiled wryly to herself. "I'm really glad I stumbled into you, half-dead on painkillers in the hospital. I could never ask for a better man. And I . . . I would say yes to you. Just- Just not yet. I will, but not now."

He brought her hand to his lips, pressing them together. "I'll be here, marriage or not. You just need to know how serious I am about you, how gone 'm for ya."

"I love you too, Sugar." 

 

 

 


End file.
